CANDLESTICK PARK

SAN FRANCISCO, CA

Blustery, cold and foggy are three words that
defined the San Francisco Giants tenure at
Candlestick Park. For 38 seasons, fans came out to
"the Stick" as it was known, to see players such as
Barry Bonds, Willie McCovey and Willie Mays play.
The history of the Giants franchise began on the
East Coast in New York City when the franchise was
established in 1883. Here they played at four
different ballparks known as
Polo Grounds. By the
1950s the Giants began looking to relocate to
replace their aging ballpark. Across the country in
San Francisco, voters approved a $5 million bond for
construction of a new stadium if a franchise were to
relocate to the city. In Summer 1957, majority owner
of the Giants, Horace Stoneman, announced that the
club would move to San Francisco. Not only were the
Giants moving to California, but the Dodgers moved
from Brooklyn to Los Angeles.

The Giants made their debut in the City of San
Francisco in 1958. Although funding had been
authorized for construction of a new stadium, it had
not yet been built by the time the Giants moved to
the city. For two seasons the club played at
Seals Stadium,
a 23,000 seat minor league ballpark. Two
locations were proposed for a new stadium, downtown
and at Candlestick Point. The site at Candlestick
Park was purchased at a cost of $2.7 million as the
city already owned an adjoining 31 acres.
Construction of the reinforced concrete stadium
began in August 1958. The stadium was engulfed in
controversy as it was constructed including
complaints from nearby neighborhoods, a grand jury
investigation and construction delays from a
Teamster strike. The Giants had hoped to open the
ballpark in September 1959 but these delays pushed
the opening to the following season.

Named after its location, the San Francisco Giants
played their first game at Candlestick Park on April
12, 1960 against the St. Louis Cardinals. With a
seating capacity of 42,553 the grandstand consisted
of two main seating decks. The lower deck extended
from behind homeplate and down the first base line,
down the third base line and around the left field
foul pole into left centerfield. The upper deck
extended from homeplate down both the first and
third base lines. A small section of bleachers were
located in right center field and the scoreboard was
located above the hitters backdrop in centerfield.
Original dimensions at the stadium were 330 ft.
(left), 420f ft. (center), and 335 ft. (right).

Not long after its opening it became apparent that
the weather would play a factor into many games
played at Candlestick Park. Although
it could be a nice, warm sunny day at the ballpark, it could also
be very windy. Once the sun set, the temperatures dropped and
fog was present sometimes. Half of Candlestick Park’s seats were
originally to be heated, but because the piping was placed to
deep into the cement, the radiant heating never worked. It could
get so windy at Candlestick Park, that at the 1961
All-Star Game, Stu Miller was blown off balance by a
gust of wind.

Discussions of expanding the stadium to accommodate
the San Francisco 49ers (NFL) began as early as
1962. A decade passed before this became a reality
when $16.1 million was spent to expand the stadium
between 1971 and 1973. This expansion project
included enclosing the entire stadium that increased
the seating capacity to 59,000, adding roll-out
stands for conversion between baseball and football,
replacement of all original wooden seats with new
orange plastic seats and the addition of elevators
and escalators. The original grass field was
replaced with Astroturf and a new scoreboard was
placed behind the seats in left-centerfield. The
conversion from baseball to football was relatively
simple as the gridiron covered left-centerfield and
the infield. Retractable stands rolled out from
under the upper deck over right field.

In the mid 1970s Giants owner Horace Stoneman
wanted to leave San Francisco because the team was struggling to
attract fans. Stoneman nearly sold the team to a group in
Toronto before Bob Lurie bought the team in 1976, keeping them
in San Francisco. Lurie wanted a new stadium constructed
downtown or either have Candlestick Park domed. Neither of these
ever happened even after Mayor Dianne Feinstein proposed adding
a dome to the stadium in 1985. Instead $30 million was spent on
improving the stadium by adding a new scoreboard, more
concessions and luxury suites. In 1994 several upgrades were
made to the stadium including new dugouts, box seats
along the first and third base lines, bleachers in
left field and a new video/scoreboard. A fog horn
was also installed, going off anytime a Giants
player hit a homerun.

Candlestick
Park remained basically the same throughout the Giants tenure at the
stadium. The enclosure of the stadium helped reduce the wind, but it
was still present during games. A major earthquake shook Candlestick
Park before the start of Game 3 of the 1989 World Series between the
Giants and the Oakland A’s. However, Candlestick Park did not
collapse as there was only minor damage to the stadium. In 1993, the Giants
began lobbying for a new ballpark. Construction on the Giants new
ballpark, AT&T
Park, began in 1998 and the last Giants game at Candlestick Park
was on September 30, 1999. The 49ers remained tenants at the stadium
until playing their final game at Candlestick Park
on December 23, 2013. They moved into a new football
only stadium,
Levis Stadium, in Santa Clara, CA in 2014.
Candlestick Park will be demolished in 2015 and
be redeveloped into a mix use of retail, housing,
commercial and park areas.

Candlestick Park was the home to many great
teams and players throughout its existence. It hosted two MLB All-Star Games and World Series,
eight NFC Championship football games, countless
other sporting events and concerts including the
Beatles last concert in 1966. However, the stadium
will go down in history as one of the coldest
stadiums in any sport with its strong, gusty winds,
dense fog and chilly temperatures.

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